The overnight line at Apple’s flagship store in Tokyo grew to about 1,200, and shoppers began lining up at the Regent Street flagship store in London about 24 hours ahead of the launch.
19 year old Takechiyo Yamanaka set up camp outside the Tokyo Apple Store Wednesday day night to be first in line. “I wanted to touch it as soon as possible. I felt a true excitement when it was finally in my hands,” he told Reuters.
ANNnewsCH was on hand to see the longs lines in Toyko
17 year old Jake Lee lined up outside London’s Regent Street Store on Thursday afternoon, according to the BBC. He originally planned on buying a 32GB iPad, but decided to go for the 64GB model instead — much like many U.S. shoppers did when the iPad went on sale in the States.
Shoppers lined up early outside the Milan Apple Store in Italy to buy their iPads, although it looks like there weren’t very many people interested in waiting overnight. setteB.IT caught excited shoppers on film ahead of the launch and after the store doors opened.
The iPad is Apple’s new multimedia tablet device that sports a 9.7-inch multi-touch display, runs iPhone OS, supports most iPhone apps, includes movie and music playback along with an ebook reader, offers built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support, and some models are available with 3G wireless data access, too.
Apple plans to release the iPad in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore in July.
[This article has been updated with additional iPad launch info.]